1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotary connector which is mounted to a steering device for connecting the rotating steering device to a vehicle body side.
2. Description of the Related Art
Steering devices involve a rotating motion caused by a steering wheel, and thus, a rotary connector is used to connect the steering device to the vehicle body side.
The rotary connector comprises, for example, a fixed case and a rotatable case, produced by molding a synthetic resin, and a spirally wound flexible flat cable arranged in an annular space defined by the fixed and rotatable cases and including a plurality of electrical conductors covered with an insulating material for transmitting an electrical signal.
A plurality of lead wires are connected to the conductors at each end of the flat cable, and the connected portions are molded into one piece using a synthetic resin. The molded part at the outer end of the cable is fitted into an outlet portion of the fixed case and the molded part at the inner end is fitted into an outlet portion of the rotatable case, such that the lead wires at both ends of the cable are extended to the outside of the cases.
The rotary connector is mounted to the steering device, as mentioned above, and thus, in some cases, provided is with cancel cams integral therewith for restoring a combination switch arranged close thereto, such as a turn signal switch, to a previous position.
The cancel cams are two in number and are formed at the lower portion of the rotatable case symmetrically about the axis of rotation and in different positions depending on whether the vehicle has a left-hand or right-hand steering wheel. Conventionally, therefore, rotatable cases for right-hand steering and rotatable cases for left-hand steering are manufactured separately, to provide two types of rotary connectors with cancel cams.
To produce two types of rotary connectors, however, two types of molds having different shapes are required for resin forming. Accordingly, the manufacturing cost is increased correspondingly, and the management of parts become complicated because two different types of rotary connectors must be taken care of.